A musical journey through MMO soundscapes, Battle Bards reviews and discusses the soundtrack of MMORPGs with a trio of engaging hosts. The Battle Bards podcast alternates with Retro Reprise every other week, a half-hour podcast showcasing classic VGM from the ’80s and ’90s.

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A musical journey through MMO soundscapes, Battle Bards reviews and discusses the soundtrack of MMORPGs with a trio of engaging hosts. The Battle Bards podcast alternates with Retro Reprise every other week, a half-hour podcast showcasing classic VGM from the ’80s and ’90s.

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Logo Credits

A big thanks to Tesh for the original Battle Bards logo!
Retro Reprise TV graphic designed by Zirconicusso.

When it comes to talking about the music from the original NES, everyone seems to always reference the same games. But what about those "other" titles with interesting and memorable soundtracks that get ignored? In today's show, Syp pulls out 10 offbeat NES music tracks that you might have never heard of -- but definitely should! Buckle up, Retro Reprise is about to go off the beaten path and into the wild unknown!

Syp returns to the 8-bit era as he counts down his top 10 favorite Gameboy tunes. It's a harder task than you think, considering how long the system was out and how many great games and soundtracks were created for it! Chances are he'll ignore your favorite, but it'll be a fun show nevertheless with lots of cheery and catchy tracks. What's your favorite?

What was originally the swan song -- the "final" game developed -- of Square turned into the studio's flagship franchise that is now in its 30th year. For the return of Retro Reprise, Syl and Syp take a nostalgic journey back through the first nine Final Fantasy games, looking at the music from the NES, SNES, and PlayStation eras. Missing the combat tracks? Stay tuned for part 2 of this series!

Candles will no longer haunt Syp's dreams -- Simon Belmont is here to whip them out of existence once and for all! Oh, and also Dracula. In today's show, Castlevania on the NES gets the star treatment as Syp dives into the music from the gothic horror platformer trilogy.

It was the 8-bit console pretty much nobody owned -- and yet has endured longer than any console to date. The Sega Master System has a fascinating history and some (if not a ton of) great chiptunes. Give it a listen and you might learn a thing or two about the video game industry while rocking out to some great VGM!

Jump to hyperspace and turn up the tunes, for Syp is going full-on into Star Control 2's amazing and bizarre soundtrack. It's an oddity among video game scores, even to this day, and much beloved because of it.

Syp doesn't hold a monopoly on retro VGM -- far from it! In this episode, he plays a melting pot of listener requests from many eras, platforms, and genres. Want to send in your own requests for a future show? Drop him a line on Twitter @Sypster!

The name's Syp. Just Syp. And I'm definitely not a super secret agent, nor a covert Russian spy, nor a particularly savvy podcaster. But I do know what I like when it comes to video game music, and 1997's Goldeneye 007 has probably my favorite Nintendo 64 score. It's the perfect soundtrack to all of life's activities, granted that you're infiltrating Cold War-era bases and blowing away scowling terrorists!

One of the most beloved video game soundtracks of all time gets a capital treatment in this episode, thanks to special guest star Syl of Battle Bards. Syl and Syp talk about their memories of the game, favorite picks, and the legacy that this score produced in the 20-odd years since Chrono Trigger's release.

What do you get when you take a space janitor and throw him into head-imploding danger? He dies, an awful lot -- but it's pretty funny when he does! In this episode of Retro Reprise, Syp takes a journey through the Space Quest series and its decidedly quirky soundtrack.